| Flatbush Avenue Extension | |
 Flatbush Avenue sign nearBrooklyn Botanic Garden | |
 Interactive map of Flatbush Avenue | |
| Namesake | Flatbush (Dutch) |
|---|---|
| Owner | City of New York |
| Maintained by | NYCDOT |
| Length | 9.9 mi (15.9 km)[1] |
| Location | Brooklyn,New York City |
| South end | Marine Parkway Bridge atFloyd Bennett Field |
| Major junctions |  Belt Parkway at Floyd Bennett Field NY 27 inFlatbush |
| North end |  I-278 /Manhattan Bridge inDowntown Brooklyn |
Flatbush Avenue is a major avenue in theNew York CityBorough ofBrooklyn. It runs from theManhattan Bridge south-southeastward toJamaica Bay, where it joins theMarine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to theRockaway Peninsula inQueens. The north end was extended fromFulton Street to the Manhattan Bridge as "Flatbush Avenue Extension".[2]
Flatbush Avenue, including the extension, is 9.9 miles (15.9 km) long. The avenue is a four-lane street throughout the majority of its run. North ofAtlantic Avenue and south ofUtica Avenue, it is a six-lane-wide median-divided street.
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The diagonal path of Flatbush Avenue creates a unique street pattern in every neighborhood it touches. It is the central artery of the borough, carrying traffic to and fromManhattan past landmarks such asMetroTech Center,City Point, theFulton Mall,Junior's,Long Island UniversityBrooklyn, theBrooklyn Academy of Music, theLong Island Rail Road'sAtlantic Terminal, theBarclays Center,Grand Army Plaza, theBrooklyn Public Library, theBrooklyn Botanic Garden,Prospect Park,Erasmus Hall High School,Kings Theatre,Brooklyn College,Kings Plaza, andFloyd Bennett Field.
Flatbush Avenue is the border ofProspect Heights/Park Slope and many other neighborhoods. Other main Brooklyn thoroughfares start at Flatbush Avenue, includingOcean Avenue and Empire Boulevard (both atWillink Plaza),Linden Boulevard,Eastern Parkway, and Utica Avenue.
Prior to European settlement, severalNative American trails crossed Brooklyn.[3] These were later widened into "ferry roads" by 17th-century Dutch settlers, since they were used to provide transport to the waterfront. One was the Flatbush Road, running roughly north–south to the east of the path of present-day Flatbush Avenue.[4] The road ran roughly along what is now the eastern edge of Prospect Park and taking advantage of a low point in theHeights of Guan that form the spine ofLong Island. A monument beside the former Flatbush Road, now inside the park, commemorates an attempt to block the road atBattle Pass during theBattle of Long Island. For much of the 19th century, it had aplank road run by aturnpike company. Historic homes line the neighborhoods around the avenue, which in the late 1920s was straightened to its current form. Streets such as Amersfort Place that are remnants of old parts of the avenue remain in the city grid as an echo of the past.
Flatbush Avenue is served by the followingMTA Regional Bus Operations routes:[5]
A dedicatedbus lane corridor on Flatbush Avenue was proposed in 2022;[6][7] at the time, the B41 route traveled at an average speed of 6.5 miles per hour (10.5 km/h).[8] Designs for the bus lanes were revealed in 2024,[9][10] and theNew York City Department of Transportation announced the next year that center-running bus lanes, with pedestrian islands, would be built on the northern part of the avenue from Livingston Street to Grand Army Plaza.[11] The lanes are to be installed starting in late 2025.[12][13]
Flatbush Avenue is served by the followingNew York City Subway stations:
The Flatbush Avenue extension was built 100 years ago through the 1850s-era Vinegar Hill neighborhood to connect Flatbush Avenue with the anticipated Manhattan Bridge, which opened in 1909.
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